Field of the Embodiments
The various embodiments relate generally to vehicle control systems and, more specifically, to providing feedback by modifying stiffness.
Description of the Related Art
User interfaces provide a mechanism for humans to interact with machines and computer-based systems. Vehicle control systems, such as in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) systems, include user interfaces that allow a driver or passenger to operate and control various functions of the vehicle, such as adjusting the volume of a sound system, accepting an incoming cellular phone call, entering a destination address into a navigation system, and playing a media file. Touch screens, buttons, knobs, and other devices may be used to operate and control the functions of a vehicle control system. Vehicle control systems also may provide functionality associated with vehicle components or movement of the vehicle, such as steering, increasing speed, decreasing speed, and braking.
Depending on the mode of a vehicle control system, a particular type of input may cause different operations to occur. For example, and without limitation, a swipe-right gesture on a touch screen while the system is in a music playback mode may cause the next song to be played. On the other hand, inputting the same swipe-right gesture while the IVI system is in a navigation mode may cause the screen to pan a map down. Furthermore, the navigation mode may accept additional types of input gestures, such as swiping sideways to pan the map left or right. To assist a user in operating the IVI system, the touch screen may indicate whether the IVI system is in the navigation mode or the music playback mode and which input gestures can be performed.
Despite the availability of different devices for operating vehicle control systems, various issues can affect a driver's ability to pay sufficient attention to the road while operating a vehicle control system. For example, and without limitation, before providing input to a vehicle control system, a driver may need to look away from the road and towards a screen in order to determine the mode of the vehicle control system. Additionally, the driver may have to look at the screen to determine which input gestures can be performed in a particular mode. A particular mode of the vehicle control system may accept forward-swiping gestures as input, whereas another mode may not. By looking at the screen, the driver is unable to effectively pay attention to the road, increasing the likelihood that the driver will collide with an object in the surrounding environment.
As the foregoing illustrates, more effective techniques for interacting with a vehicle control system would be useful.